Broken Bones
by Boltshok
Summary: *set after Bow and Arrow* Now that things after the mission have settled down, Winnie lives a life of peace...until a weapon breaks out of the Autobot Base, and begins to terrorize the newly-made human settlements. Some violence ensues...
1. Chapter 1

Outside, Winnie waters a hanging basket by her front door. There is a crash in the distance, and a lone, bugling roar is heard. Deeming it is too far away to be of any consequence, Winnie continues to water.

... at Base ...

"We have to get this under control!" Fort Max shouts, "Before it reaches the outside!"

An orange creature stands in mainbay, fighting with a security team.

"Optimus to Metroplex," the Autobot leader speaks, through a com link, "have defenses up and ready in case Oculus is freed."

"Bring in the Hornet!" Depthcharge shouts. "He will end this for us."

"Bumblebee is alhready en route," Jazz answers. " 'E is ensurin' that G is safe."

"We need him now!" Depthcharge responds. "Or else we will be-"

Oculus lashes out at him with a roar, tail whipping over his shoulder to pitch Depthcharge to the side. Bumblebee appears out of medbay, and Jazz steps out of the fight to meet him.

"Bumblebee, I hate to ask you to do this, but I need you to revert and incapacitate Oculus."

"I can't do it on command!" Bumblebee blusters. "It isn't something I can control!"

"Bumblebee...if you don't...I...I..."

"Bee!" Maximus shouts. "If you don't, I'm going to march in there and slay G myself."

Doorwings perking up at this threat, Bee stalks towards Max. "Are you threatening my bonded?" he hisses darkly, and Max backs up, hoping to trigger Hornet before Oculus breaks through the security team.

"Do you ^ital^ want ^ital^ her?" Bumblebee growls.

"No," Max says, grabbing Bee's shoulder and turning him around. "He does."

Eye flicking red, Bumblebee charges Oculus, hands coming up to grapple with him. Twisting and turning, Oculus gets a hand free, and latches onto Bee's throat, then pitches him through the wall into medbay. Collapsing against a berthside, Bumblebee lies still.

As Maximus steps to the side to see if Bee is okay, Oculus takes the chance and darts past the monstrous tank. Out in the sunlight, he screams his challenge, and races off towards the nearest life signs - the human settlements.

"Fliers!" Optimus Prime yells, "Shoot down Oculus!"

As the Aerial Ace team take flight, Lifeflight creeps out of medbay. "P-Prime?" he asks timidly. "Wh-what-t will-l you h-have me do?"

Prime smiles kindly down at Lifeflight, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Lifeflight, will you go out and aide the injuries of the humans?"

"Y-yes Sir-r," Lifeflight murmurs, standing tall and giving a salute.

Jogging lightly to the entrance of Base, he transforms with a smooth sequence, rising into the sky with new vigor.

...

Oculus is among the human settlements, destroying buildings and making a mess of the newly rebuilt civilization. The Aerial Ace team shoots when they can, but so many humans are in the way, the chances of not injuring them are slim. Oculus picks up a hunk of debris, and chucks it at one of the jets hovering overhead, hitting an engine squarely.

The mech veers off, transforming in the nick of time and crashing into the ground. Roaring, Oculus continues his rampage, sprinting down the road towards the next available life sign - the veterinary compound and its' inhabitants.

...

Winnie hears a helicopter overhead, and Lifeflight lands in her yard, not bothering to transform.

"Winnie!" he calls. "Th-there is an-n imminent a-attack u-upon your position!"

"What do you mean, Lifeflight?" Winnie asks, "What's coming?"

Oculus appears on the hillside, screaming, and charges down towards the compound.

"What the..." Winnie gasps as the red monster races towards her. "L-Lifeflight?"

The small chopper's rotors start up, and he lifts off of the ground, swerving over to hover over the compound.

"Inside!" he shouts, a rarely used weapon coming into the light - a multi-barrel high capacity machine gun.

Loading with an audible clack, he takes aim at Oculus and fires. Bullets zing through the air towards the red beast, pinging off armor and burrowing into metalskin exposed. Bellowing in pain, Oculus bursts through the lower level, and Lifeflight comes around, lowering to the ground to look inside for Winnie.

A scream is heard, and Winnie is thrown a window onto the grass, clutching a bow and quiver of arrows. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder, Winnie grabs arrow after arrow, shooting at Oculus' visor, his face, to ward him off. One arrow pierces his cheek, angering him further, and he leaps over Winnie, pinning her to the ground.

With a flick of his tail, he sends her flying headlong into the forest, the smashing and cracking of branches loud in the near-silence. Turning on Lifeflight, Oculus charges. The little medic is too slow, and gets swept up in the fray, tail rotor grabbed, and he is hurled into the forest as well, main blades breaking on trees.

A grouping of Mecha appear on the hill, coming down to Oculus' current position, and with the shot of an EMP, the rogue mech is taken down. Ratchet is with the grouping, and runs to the smoke coming from Lifeflight in the trees. The chopper had transformed, and lies against a log, chest heaving with cries.

"Hang on, Lifeflight," Ratchet mutters, pulling a welder out. "You've sprung a leak."

Beginning to start on him, Ratchet frowns when his welding brings forth more cries of pain. Tears course over Lifeflight's faceplates, and Ratchet turns to the main energon bleed - one of the broken rotor blades had embedded itself in Lifeflight's thigh.

Pulling out a pair of pliers, Ratchet shoves Lifeflight back so he doesn't watch, and rips the blade out, quickly welding the wound closed.

"Are there any more wounded?" Ratchet asks, and Lifeflight nods through his tears. "W-W-Winn-nie," he whimpers, looking to his left, where the huntress had been flung through the trees. Ratchet steps back from Lifeflight, and goes looking for Winnie.

He finds her twenty yards away from Lifeflight's position, slumped against a tree stump.

"Winnifred," he says, touching her shoulder. "Wake up...Winnifred. Your life signs are stable...you're bleeding profusely from your right arm and-"

Winnie groans, and Ratchet helps her sit up. Biting her lip, she looks down at her right arm which was...not pointing the direction it should be.

"Look away," Ratchet grumbles, and seizes her arm, breaking it into the proper place again.

A pained cry echoes through the forest.

After binding the arm, Ratchet pulls out a cloth from subspace. "You have a nosebleed," he comments, as blood drips onto Winnie's shirt and cloak. "Here...tip your head back."

He presses the cloth against Winnie's nose, and within a few minutes, wrangles the bleeder into clotting.

"Let me carry you," he says, picking her up gingerly. "I don't know what else may be injured."

Lifting Winnie into his cold chest, he walks out of the woods. Now able to survey the damage, Winnie moans upon seeing Lifeflight pulled from the forest. His back is in splinters, the rotary bundle shredded almost beyond recognition.

"It is purely superficial, except for his leg," Ratchet says calmly. "The rotary system is just very sensitive."

Supported under both shoulders, Lifeflight is lain on a wheeled berth, and Ratchet hands Winnie off to another medic.

"Place them both inside," he says. "Be careful with the human."

Lifeflight is slid inside, and Winnie settled beside him in a scoop, like a chair. As the doors shut, the only sounds are Lifeflight's quiet cries.

"I-I'm sorry, Lifeflight," Winnie whispers. "I didn't m-mean for you to get hurt."

"He will be fine," Ratchet grumbles, engine starting with a cough. "Ratchet inbound to medbay. Prepare OR, Jolt, I have Lifeflight incoming with a disrupted rotor kit. Prepare transplant set."

"Acknowledged."

Ratchet rolls up the hill, and through the remains of the human village. Arriving at Base, a few medics pull Lifeflight out, and Ratchet transforms, shifting around Winnie until she is held in his hands. Walking into medbay, there are Mecha everywhere, lying on berths and sitting on the floor. Many are just superficial, with the seriously injured lying on berths.

Bringing Winnie into a separate room, Ratchet lays her down on a machine's berth, pushing the slab inside.

"Scanning now, hold still."

Winnie holds her breath, and then when the scan is over, Ratchet pulls her out. "You're clear. Can you stand?"

Pulling her off the berth, Ratchet gently sets the huntress on her feet.

"I...I think I'm okay," Winnie says, taking a few steps. "Just a little sore. Thank you for binding my arm."

"It should heal on it's own, as you know," Ratchet says. "Come out to the mainbay - G is with Bumblebee and I bet she could use some company."

Leading Winnie out, he directs her to a berth in the corner of medbay, where Bumblebee is laid out, panels supported by a divot in the berth's surface. A brown haired person sits beside him on a high stool, his hand her lap.

"Winnie?" G asks, looking to her friend. "Are...what happened to your arm?"

"What was that orange thing that attacked my compound?" Winnie asks. "Did it do all this damage?"

"That thing is called Oculus. It is a monster, used as a weapon during the war."

"Oh," Winnie says hollowly. "Is Bumblebee okay?"

"Unconscious," G says with a yawn. "Jolt put a light bond block on so I wouldn't join him. Are those your only injuries? You have a nosebleed."

"I do? Oops," Winnie says with a crooked smile.

Tipping her head, back, she waits for it to stop again. "Can I sit with you?" she asks.

"Yeah," G answers, and Winnie pulls up another chair.

Looking over Bumblebee, she sighs. "What happened to him?"

"Bee? He relapsed and was sent against Oculus, who threw him through that wall," G says, gesturing to the gaping hole in medbay. "He's okay, just offline."

"What will they do with Oculus now?" Winnie asks.

"Put him back into his stasis chamber, double locked this time. Some idiot hit the unlock, and he came out of stasis before the door was shut."

"I hope Lifeflight is okay," Winnie mumbles. "He got thrown into some trees, I guess, and his 'rotary kit' was destroyed."

"That must have hurt," G says.

Bumblebee groans, shifting, and slowly, his eyes open, both blue. "G?"

"I'm right here, and so is Winnie," G responds, rubbing his hand. "How do you feel?"

"Sore," he moans, rubbing his face. "And my panels hurt."

"For good reason. You bodyslammed a berth," G informs him. "Headache?"

"Pounding," Bumblebee answers. "W-Winnie? You're injured."

"I just fractured my arm," Winnie says. "You're worse off than I am."

"No," he says, "you have a nosebleed. Didn't someone give you an icepack?"

"No...should they have? I don't know how to treat a nosebleed - little critters don't get them."

"Yes, they should. Doc is probably busy...come back with us and we'll see if it will stop."

"Okay."

Touching his com link, Bumblebee connects to Ratchet. "Doc? Am I okay to go home?"

"Are you injured?"

"No, just been unconscious for the past hour."

"You're fine, cleared to go home."

Sitting up with a groan, Bumblebee pulls his hand out of G's lap and slides to the edge of the berth, standing up. He stretches, and then motions to Winnie and G. "C'mon, let's go home."


	2. Chapter 2

"I think I'll wait for Lifeflight to get out of the OR," Winnie says softly. "I'm worried about him."

"Okay," Bumblebee sighs. "We're at home if you need us."

Winnie sits down on the bench beside the medbay wall, and waits for Lifeflight to emerge from the OR. In her boredom, she pulls out a datapad, seeing a message from Bumblebee.

Bee: You should come by later and get your arm fixed.

She hits reply, and types out a short message.

Winnie: I don't want my arm fixed.

Bee: Why? It serves you no purpose than hinder you and give undue pain in the future. I have broken my struts before and it hurts.

Winnie: Because I'm already weak. I need to figure out how to deal with injury.

Bee: You're not weak. Prowl chose you for a mission, didn't he?

Bee: Prowl doesn't choose the weak.

G: Share the datapad!

Bee: I will not :P And now you can't reach it where I put it

Bee: Ha.

Bee: Lol, as you would say.

Winnie: Go Bee!

Winnie: And just because Prowl chose me to be a guide doesn't mean I can do anything but read my own handwriting.

Bee: But you are noted for having been the first human to single-handedly explore the southwestern regions of Anilex and Ara.

Bee: It makes you first choice.

Bee: And I've never seen your handwriting.

Winnie: :P there's a reason for that.

Bee: I would like the opportunity to see your handwriting.

Bee: Oooh I'm being threatened with sleeping on the couch.

Bee: Not fun.

Winnie: But you get a TV though.

Bee: Don't you have one?

Bee: I know that everyone has a telecommunications array.

Bee: Should I hack your system into the mainstream of television?

Bee: It would be fairly easy to do, even at home.

Winnie: Uhh...

Bee: In fact, let me access your portal...

Winnie: Stop getting off topic.

Winnie: Just because I got lost while fishing doesn't mean I'm worth anything.

Winnie: Mark my words, Prowl will be disappointed when we come back and he hears that you had to drag me up the mountain and back.

Bee: Am I off topic?

Bee: I heard you did a bit more than 'get lost while fishing'.

Bee: Just because I won't let you ride on my shoulders :P

Winnie: It's amazing what people call falling down a few holes these days. And I don't understand why you won't.

Bee: Because I don't want you sitting on my panels. They're back there too, you know.

Bee: Oooh now it's two days on the couch.

Winnie: Two days watching whatever you want on TV.

Bee: Sleeping on the couch for two days doesn't mean I have free reign of the TV. I still have to get up and do, you know.

Bee: And I doubt I'll be sleeping alone.

Bee: I never get banished to the couch without her joining me.

Winnie: Oh dude.

Bee: What?

Winnie: Nothin'.

Winnie: What were we talking about?

Bee: Your arm. Will you let us fix it?

Winnie: No thanks...

Bee: Your occupation requires both of your appendages. Having one out of commission will definitely make an impact.

Winnie: Actually, I'm hoping it does have an impact...

Bee: Why would you hope for an impact in your work?

Bee: By the way, you now have satellite television.

Winnie: No way! Spongebob every day! :D

Bee: Why would you hope for an impact in your work?

Bee: Spongebob? I've never watched that before.

Winnie: Watch it dude...let your kids watch it too - it will be the best thing you'll ever do.

Winnie: And back to the arm.

Bee: I'm searching the name.

Bee: Your arm. It should be fixed.

Winnie: No, honestly I'm fine. I need to learn how to deal with these..dilemmas and keep up with anything that gets thrown at me.

Bee: If you have the ability to heal an injury, take it.

Bee: "Dealing with anything" can be avoided. You don't want to be forced to "deal" with anything if you can help it.

Winnie: I need the experience. And I do want to at least try to "deal".

Bee: "Deal" when you are forced to, not when you choose to.

Bee: Spongebob does not seem suitable for the development of young children.

Winnie: What happens when I'm forced to and don't know how to deal? Under any other circumstances I would HAVE to deal.

Winnie: And let them watch Spongebob.

Bee: Then let us fix your arm, and you bind it as a hindrance. It would involve less pain for you and less problems for me having to deal with G.

Bee: Spongebob has been linked to brain damage in children five and under. I would, if I were you, recommend Little Bear, or Reading Rainbow.

Bee: *If you were going to watch children's shows.

Bee: If not, Game of Thrones might interest you.

Bee: Or Emergency 911

Winnie: For the record, I do watch children's shows. And I would love to watch Game of Thrones for the storyline, but my dad has told me about the language and intensity of i,t and its not quite my style. I love Reading Rainbow and Little Bear. Spongebob is a place for humor and laughter for the entire family. I've never heard of Emergency 911 though. And the pain is what I need to deal with.

Bee: Grrr

Bee: You are beginning to irritate me.

Bee: I swear if I have to hold you down so that G can access your arm I will.

Winnie: You're welcome :) . I doubt people give you this kind of a mental workout often.

Winnie: Ack wait NO.

Winnie: I'll just figure out a way to rebreak it. And I know G's tickle spot.

Bee: As do I :P Blackmail will not work.

Bee: And in order to rebreak your arm...I don't even want to think about what that would entail.

Winnie: It's not blackmail, and honestly with my luck it won't be long.

Bee: You need ample leverage, force, and willpower to rebreak your arm.

Bee: If you want pain, I'll break your foot and leave you to our sparklings, then take a vacation.

Bee: WITH G. Then you will learn how to deal. Screaming sparklings, no Shield, and a colicky Oneshot is the way to learn.

Winnie: :) thank you Bee

Winnie: I won't break my arm again if you let me babysit :)

Bee: Say that after we get back, three weeks later.

Winnie: I probably wouldn't...although I'm willing to try. And I'll probably end up breaking my arm by accident.

Winnie: So...

Bee: No.

Bee: No.

Bee: I'm coming to medbay.

Winnie: Cool...I'm tryin to find some reading material in here.

Winnie: Where'd ya go?

Bee: You misunderstand. I'm coming to medbay to take you back with me.

Winnie: Bee, I'm waiting for Lifelight.

Bee: You're coming with me, and G is fixing your arm. Period. My eta is two minutes.

Winnie: Too late Bumblebee I'm gone...I'll see Lifeflight later.

Bee: I know you are outside Base 1.3 meters.

Winnie: Won't be for long.

Bee: You remember I can drive, right? And I have an entire satellite system at my disposal to pinpoint you anywhere on the continent.

Bee: Or should I say, continents. Anilex and Tyrus are completely mapped.

Winnie: Not all places, Bee...goodbye

Bee: This is going to be so much fun :3 I haven't been assigned to a manhunt for VORNS. I'll see you within the hour.

*Faux female voice* we are sorry but the commlink you are trying to reach has been disconnected...

Bee: It's on.


	3. Chapter 3

Bumblebee activates his internal com, and gives the datapad back to G. "I'll be back in an hour or so," he says, and steps through the warp pad.

...

Winnie sees Fort Max heading her direction and flags him down. "Max, I need your help need to get to my house. Now," she gasps.

"What's wrong?" he rumbles, about to transform. "Is someone hurting you?"

"No, Max..." Winnie smiles, "I'll explain later. I just need to get home quickly, and tear up as much road as possible doing it."

"Oh...kay," Max says, opening the hatch. "Will you get in?"

"Yep," Winnie says, hopping into the now familiar cab.

Max's engine fires up, and his tracks spin, dirt and mud flinging everywhere as he tears out.

"I've never been given ^ital^ permission ^ital^ to tear up the road before!" Max shouts. "This is AWESOME!"

"I knew you'd like it," Winnie says just barely saving the lava lamp from smashing on a rough corner.

Max rolls up to the compound not more than five minutes after setting out, the humans shouting after him about shredding the road in deep divots.

Winnie stops him just outside the compound meadow. "Thank you so much, Max, the Scooby Snacks are on me next time! And if you don't hear from me by tonight then tell G that I need her to feed everyone."

Winnie jumps up to his knee and hugs him, then runs off to her house. She grabs a machete, two knives, a banana, and a jacket. She looks at her bow regretfully before locking the door.

Winnie quickly throws her leather saddle on Brawny, ignoring the bags of provisions set beside the stall. She whispers to the Pa'li before mounting clumsily with her cast. "Sorry 'bout this, Bro. I need you to run."

She urges the horse into a gallop, leaning to avoid the broken branches from Lifelight's fall. Winnie falters, remembering his grievous wounds, and continues on.

Max transforms as he sees the huntress ride off into the forest. What is going on?

A shout and the roar of an engine echoes through the stillness, and loud Praxian cursing is heard. Maximus watches as a muck-ridden Bumblebee walks over the hill, some tree branches stuck up under his breastplate.

"What happened to you?" Max asks, as Bumblebee grumbles and flicks his panels in distaste.

"You made a mess of the road," Bee hisses, flicking his panels some more to rid them of mud.

Popping the clamp on his midsection, he pulls the breastplate off, yanking the broken branches out sourly.

"She is going to pay," Bumblebee says darkly, shaking out some other armor.

...

Meanwhile, Brawny slips around branches, barely touching the ground. Approaching an unfamiliar river, Winnie slides off Brawny's hide and unbuckles the riding gear. With one hand she drags the saddle over to a large, thorny bush. Winnie wraps the jacket around her broken arm and shoulder and shoves away the branches.

Beneath it are two canoes. One small and flimsy, the other larger and made from sturdy wood. Winnie drags the light canoe out, replacing it with the saddle. She turns and rubs Brawny's nose, then sends him home. Jumping into the boat Winnie lets the swift current take her far down the bank, paddling weakly with her left hand.

...

Armor now free of mud, Bumblebee pulls on the dropped pieces and walks past Max to peek into Winnie's house window.

"She's gone...left her bow, I see."

He is about to walk around and check if Brawny is in the stable when the Pa'li comes trotting out of the forest, nickering upon seeing him.

"Brawny?" Bumblebee asks. "Where's Winnie?"

The horse only nickers and nuzzles Bee's hand, not giving any clues.

"Hmm..." Bee murmurs, "well, let's put you back."

Horse deposited in the paddock, Bumblebee bids farewell to Fort Max and sets off through the trees to hunt Winnie down.

Crossing into the forested area, Bee sees light scuffles where a Pa'li's hooves had pressed lightly into the turf.

Winnie's paddles barely help with the boats progression. And to her amazement, the water is swift and swollen from a late melt on the mountain. She soon finds herself at the first set of rapids, a place she didn't expect to be for another hour at least. The rapids wouldn't be difficult to pass through if only she had both hands...she switches sides with her single oar and braces her sore arm against it, maneuvering with the left.

The water gets faster and the first rock comes into view. Shrouded in debris it appears to be of little problem compared to its' neighbors. Winnie, a droplets of icy river water dripping down her face, struggles to guide the boat past it. Seeing the futility of her efforts she angles the boat to shoot to the right side of the rock. The current, becoming ever stronger, sends her careening into the mass, pounding a hole into the boat and sending Winnie into the deep mud.

Winnie stands up slowly, and wrings out her hair, wincing as she rolls her shoulder. With a crack, her water-filled boat snaps in half and crunches against the impeding rocks further down the rapids. She shakes off some mud, picks up the machete, and continues down the river on foot, humming a small tune.

Tracking the prints to the edge of a river, Bumblebee finds a saddle hidden under a bush, beside a large, sturdy canoe.

"Foolish," he says, looking down the river.

Putting the bush back over the saddle, Bumblebee starts jogging down the river, looking for the blonde huntress.

Winnie keeps her pace and swishes her machete in her left hand, keeping her arm nimble for a fight. Slipping on some mud, she almost stabs her foot. As she stoops to pick it up, she hears a short huff behind her. She turns slowly around and takes a scan of the area. Deep in the stream is a bear, with two small cubs. Winnie backs away slowly, and the bear growls while her cubs squeak and play. Once she is around the bend, Winnie jogs to the next set of rapids.

As Bumblebee nears the rapids in the river, banks nearly overflowing with ice melt, he sees a piece of wood on the side of the river, and picks it up, identifying it as identical to the canoe still hidden under the bush.

As he investigates further, he finds more pieces along the rocks and river's edge, then as the river drops into more severe rapids, half a canoe lies in the water.

Seeing an open spot in the swirling rapids, he sighs and steps up to the edge of the water. Taking a breath, he dives off the edge, into the muddy water.

He surfaces, pulling the canoe out of the water to inspect it. Throwing the hull onto the edge, he finds no sign of Winnie in it, except for a small piece of torn cloth from her cloak. Diving in a few more times, he finds no other evidence.

Clambering out of the freezing water, he begins walking downriver, hopefully to find some remnant of Winnie. A roar shows him a mother bear, with two playful cubs, sitting in the river. As the bear stalks towards him, Bumblebee flares his panels in an effort to scare her away, but the bear is not deterred this time.

Mouth open wide, she charges him.


	4. Chapter 4

Winnie clambers down a small grassy incline into a low valley. She perches atop a warm rock and scans her surroundings - the valley is soft and beautiful. In its' center a green lake, the cold river tumbling its new, icy flow into it.

There are many birches in a ring around the lake except for one side, where, at the pool's edge, is the sharp corner of the Ara mountain range. The stone face of the mountain is rudely chopped off by glaciers...or perhaps something more recent. Across the lake is a small cabin, just perfect for a runaway.

Winnie hears a dull roar and her heart sinks. It had been four hours since she baffled Bee. He must have caught up to the mother bear.

She took off towards the sound getting closer by the minute. Peering around the bend she sees Bee in a losing battle with the bear. Her cubs are playing in the river, oblivious to the danger. Winnie slips on a plastic glove. Hopefully Bee wouldn't hurt the mother. Then she charges one of the twins and scoops it up.

"Bumblebee, I need you to run NOW! Downriver!" Winnie calls, and keeps stride, sprinting with the cub into the adjacent forest.

"Stupid fragging BEAR!" he yells, giving the mother bear a swift kick in the rear.

The bear roars and turns, but by then, Bumblebee had taken off running back downstream. doorwings flaring to take a "look" his eyes widen as he realizes the bear is just a few paces behind.

The bear begins to gain, when a terrified squeak is heard. The bear and Bee turn to see only one cub sitting in the river. A few trees down Winnie holds up the missing cub. It's squealing and a whimpering calls its mother around and the two both disappear into the woods.

Beginning to tire, Winnie comes upon a large tree and drops the cub at the base, swinging onto a branch. She just makes it up as the mother charges up, sniffing her cub intently. Winnie rests until the bear huffs and snuffs at the tree. Long claws grab the bark, and clip the huntress' knee. Growling, Winnie climbs across the trees among the interwoven branches towards the valley.

Watching the bear take off after Winnie, Bumblebee sighs and follows after the bear. The creature begins to climb the tree Winnie is apparently in, and Bee comes to the trunk, watching the bear disappear into the branches.

Taking a leap, he catches a fork in the tree, and pulls himself up enough to grab the bear's hind paw. Letting go of the tree, Bumblebee lets his weight throw the bear back onto the ground.

Rolling a few yards away from the tree, the mother bear picks herself up and stares at Bee, growling lowly. Doorwings flaring, Bumblebee shakes out the panels tucked up inside the main set. He snarls and bares his denta, and the faux charge he takes pushes the bear back, and it picks up the cub, lumbering back into the trees.

Winnie hears the bear fall from the tree and calls down to Bee. "Thank you, Bee. Can you see me?"

Four branches up, she sees Bumblebee come under and make eye contact. Winnie sighs and continues, "I think I have a ladder at the cabin...if you keep going down the bank I'll follow you."

"Don't even think of pulling that on me, Winnie. If you climbed up there, you are more than capable of climbing back down, or simply over to another tree. No - I'll come get you."

"Suurreee, Bee," Winnie says.

They walk down to the tree indicated, one with a large sticker bush beside it. Bee puts up his arms for Winnie...then his vision goes dark. Winnie jumped on his face! As the lands on the ground, she slides under the bush and out the other end, running to the cabin. Within five minutes she is inside, the door locked.

...

Groaning, Bumblebee steps back, stumbling into the river as his vision returns. Shaking his head, he touches his nose, which appears to be bleeding. Spitting a wad of energon into the river, he grumbles.

"You're only hurting your case," he rumbles, turning in the direction that Winnie ran.

In the cabin, Winnie quickly packs essential food, water, and books. She runs into a back closet, throwing aside pillows and blankets, unearthing a trap door. Opening it she throws her pack into a deep hole dug beneath a cabin, with a ladder leading down into the darkness. She grabs a lantern and lights it, then she restacks the blankets and closes both doors, climbing more or less down the pit.

Stepping out of the river, Bumblebee follows the slight trail Winnie made down to the lakeside. Almost immediately spotting the cabin, he walks up to it, slowly opening the door.

Listening with both ears and panels, he deems that Winnie is no longer inside. It's getting dark out...what time ^ital^ is ^ital^ it? Checking his internal chronometer, Bee sighs. Nine o'clock...well, the hunt is still on, he can't stop now. Closing the door, Bumblebee lights a lamp and sits on the couch, plotting his next move.

Winnie slowly creeps down her tunnels, having memorized their mapping years ago. She heads east towards the mountains, passing the many caverns she and the resistance had dug and paneled with wood. She whistles "Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows" in the warm dark as she continues walking.

Up in the cabin, Bumblebee fixes up a nice fire and sits on the couch, drinking a ration energon cube and pulsing to his bondmate.

:What are you up to?: he pulses to G.

:Putting everyone to bed. Are you coming home tonight?:

:No...the hunt continues on:

Sipping on the cube, he pulls a blanket out of a basket next to the arm of the sofa, and curls up, feeling the warmth of the bond pulses.

...

Soon Winnie comes to the end of tunnels. She is in the middle of the mountain, in a cavern glistening with blue crystals, unmined and sparkling. She sets up her sleeping gear and the lantern on a small ledge. Before she falls asleep she gazes at the rope leading to the opening in the roof of the cavern; the hole lets the moonlight shine through from the top of the mountain.

...

As ten o'clock passes, Bumblebee slides further down on the couch, turning so his panels face out, and slowly falls asleep.

As the sun creeps into the window, it shines upon a still-sleeping Bumblebee. He tosses on the couch, in the throes of a scheduled nightmare, and as it dives deeper, he snaps awake, sitting bolt upright.

Chest heaving, he looks around at his surroundings. Where...oh right. The cabin. Sighing, he swings his legs off the couch, stands up, and folds the blanket. Setting it down on the couch, he opens the door, stepping out into the crisp morning, cold air making steam rise off his shoulders.

Walking down to the lakeside, a quick examination shows that it merely has an algal bloom, and will not affect any outside systems. Stripping down, he leaps in to freeze his nightmare.

Diving down, he touches the bottom of the lake, quite shallow for it's size, and then swims back to the surface. Popping above the water, he scans the horizon for any predators (or Winnie) and then swims to the edge, not having seen any of either.

Stepping out of the water, he pulls a spare towel out of subspace, and rubs down, pulling his armor on to trap the friction-made heat. Popping another ration energon, he drinks it whilst thinking of the next move. Decided, he makes a com to Base.

"Bumblebee to Base, Blaster, you up yet?"

"Yo, mech, what can I do for ya?"

"Patch me in to...hmm...Prowl, would you?"

"Connectin'."

As the com rings, Bumblebee leans against the cabin. Having the continent scanned for Winnie's location would sure help in this hunt...and the sooner the hunt was completed, the sooner he could see G and the sparklings.

"Prowl."

"Yes, this is Bumblebee. Could you do a scan of Anilex for Winnifred's signature? She has a broken arm, and has evaded treatment...I can't have her going on the mission with a broken arm."

"Understood."

The line ends, and Bumblebee waits patiently for a reply.

...

In the cave, Winnie wakes to a beeping. Opening her eyes, she looks up to see a blinking red light in the cave. What was that?

...

"The underground surveillance has picked up her signature," Prowl says evenly. "Fifty yards from your heading, thirty-five degrees northwest, then twenty feet straight down. I am sending the coordinates now."

As they come in, Bee walks inside, through the small living space and following a northwestern heading. Opening a door at the coordinates, he sees a pile of blankets and sheets on the floor.

Pulling them back, he unearths a trapdoor. Pulling on the edges, he finds it is locked, and only able to be unlocked from the inside.

"Well..." he says, thinking, and then coms Prowl again.

"Prowl, that entrance is sealed. Is there another way in?"

"Yes. Next set of coordinates is incoming."

Following these new coordinates outside, Bumblebee climbs up a short part of the sharp mountain, and finds a crack in the side, showing a cavern. He begins walking up, his steps reverberating in the cavern.

...

Winnie walks over to the small red light, examining it closely. She realizes it is a tracker...a tracker that she herself planted for Prowl. Just as she turns to move on from the deep cavern, a light glints over her face. Looking up and shielding her eyes, she sees Bumblebee climbing down a rope besides hers. With a scream, Winnie scrabbles her gear together and runs into the nearest tunnel, only to be stopped by a resounding crash.


	5. Chapter 5

As Bumblebee began to climb down his lead line, something above him rips. Looking up, he sees the rope frayed at the top, where it rests at the head of the cavern.

As he is trying to reach up and pull himself back, the rope snaps, and he goes hurtling to the rock floor below. Landing with a solid smack, his crashing sounds throughout the cavern.

Groaning, he opens his eyes, oblivious to the pain at first. As he moves to sit up, something snaps, and he moans, lying back down.

...

Winnie turns around, and some silt lands on her head from the crash. "Bumblebee? Bumblebee?! Oh jeez, your leg!"

She drops her gear, serious now. Picking up her blanket, she runs to the writhing mech. Bracing her knee against his thigh she slides her hand along the leg, feeling for the break.

"Do it," he grits, and she breaks it back, staunching the energon bleeding out with the blanket. She wraps it around once and ties it off with the frayed rope lying near.

As Bee's breathing evens out, he looks up at Winnie, then begins to sit up.

She shoves him back down. "Don't even."

Opening her pack, she thrusts a pack of salted meat and a canteen of energon at him. "Eat," she says, before racing back out of the cavern, and she returns with an armful of wood.

"You knocked half the mountain down," she says, looking over at him.

"I think ^ital^ you ^ital^ munched a panel," he groans, sitting up. "Thank you for the energon, though."

"I'm sorry," Winnie says, freezing suddenly in her work. They look at each other until Bee breaks the link.

"I need you to get up just for a bit, and sit by the wall," she says.

"Alright," he says, grabbing her shoulder and hefting himself up onto his unbroken leg.

Sitting back down by the wall, he sighs as his panels touch the rock wall. He watches Winnie make the fire, and soon a flickering blaze fills the cavern.

Winnie drags a rock over and sets his leg on it. "I don't have any painkiller, sorry. Does anyone know you're here?"

"G knows I'm in the area, but I told her I wasn't coming back until the hunt was over...Prowl sent me down here with coordinates, but most likely won't ask me about the end result, I think...so, no."

"I'm too far under to have any connection to the satellites outside. The most I can do is play from my music library, stored in my CPU."

"Well we won't get bored then. And I was serious when I told you you knocked down the mountain. Only a few tunnels are open now, opening to dead ends. That's where I got the wood." She stands under the opening bee fell down.

"I would be careful where I fell," he calls. "Some of the rocks still might be loose."

Shifting in his position, he winces as the wrinkled panel touches the rock. "Aahh...would you...ugh, foolish."

Winnie looks down at his wincing form just as some stones the size of her fist fall on her. She falls on her knees and blood seeps from her nose again. "Why are you always right?" she asks, crawling to the wall.

"Come here and I'll pack your nose. Once that's stopped I have something to ask you."

"No, it's fine, I gotta get some food and see what I have left." She drags her pack over and sits by the wall. "So, what were you sayin'?"

"Would...would you straighten my panel?"

"Oh um... sure," she says, looking up at him.

"I really should wait for G, but we're going to be here a while," he mumbles.

"Sorry," she murmurs, looking at his panels, unsure.

"It's okay," he says softly. "Don't tell G I let you touch...I'm not to."

"Sorry," she says, quieter. "Do, um...uh..."

"It's a cultural thing... here, I'll bring it around for you... I can only pull it so far with my struts."

"Okay..." Winnie says as he turns around.

At the bottom of the right panel is a slight wrinkle, the yellow armor around it pinching the tender sensors. She reaches out timidly and straightens out the wrinkle.

"Uh... like that?"

"Oooh...mmm...yep. Thank...thank you," he says timidly, panels folding back.

"Welcome," she says, standing and leaning against the wall.

"Now, let me pack your nose," he sighs, turning to her. "Or else you're going to bleed out on this stone floor."

"It'll be okay..." Winnie says with a smile, wiping at her nose.

"You're losing more fluid than you are producing," he argues. "Sit down. Pack your nose. Clot. Then you may do what you

wish, within reason."

She wobbles and sighs. "Ok..." she murmurs, sliding back down.

He relaxes a little, reaching into subspace and pulling out a cloth. Winnie takes a breath then sneezes, spewing red across her arm.

"Oops," she groans, and takes the cloth. "Thank you."

"Yep," he says. "Hold that there real tight...lemme see if I can find an ice pack..."

She pinches her nose and feels the blood trickle out. "Thanks," she says quietly.

"Yep," he says absentmindedly. "Mmm...here.."

He breaks something, and then hands it to Winnie. "It's cold, now," he says.

She takes it and presses it to her nose. "Cool."

Winnie holds it there for a minute then sets the ice pack down. Standing she walks over to the rope and looks up. She sighs

and stuffs the cloth into her bleeding nose and wraps the rope around her good arm.

"Be careful," Bee warns.

She laughs and struggles up the rope. "I'll try."

A little ways up she sniffles, and the cloth falls out of her nose. It starts to bleed, but she continues up. Halfway to the top she

stops and hangs there.

"Bee?"

"Yes?" he asks.

Her arm starts to shake. "Uhh... Bee? I... I don't.. feel so good..."

"Winnie? Winnie, stay conscious. Start climbing down slowly. Easy..."

"I...I don't... uh..." She feels her hand slacken on the rope and closes her eyes.

Slowly, Winnie's hand slips from the rope, and she falls the fifteen feet back to the ground, parts of her body crunching under the impact.

"Winnie? Winnie?!"

Bumblebee pulls himself upright, faster than a mech with a broken leg should, and goes to her prone form, lying on the rock ground.

"Stupid," he grumbles, pulling her up.

A puddle of blood is on the ground where she laid, and he quickly inspects her. Hands sliding down her unbroken arm, her back, over her chest and down her midsection...until he finds her left knee.

Blown out at the joint, the entirety of the lower left leg is pushed up and out, kneecap gone and tendons showing.

"You're gonna hate me for this," he says softly, reaching into subspace and pulling out a...blowtorch?

Lighting the flame up, he brings it to Winnie's knee and cauterizes the wound, quickly stopping the blood flow.

"Stupid, I told you to sit down and rest. Now look what you've done," he growls, picking her roughly up and depositing her by the wall, where he was.

Winnie slumps unconscious against the wall, and Bumblebee sighs.

"Well...I guess it's one way to make you rest."

Sitting back down by the wall, Bumblebee fishes two blankets out of subspace, and a sleep pad, rolled up. Leaning back against the rock Winnie had previously been sitting on, Bee stuffs the pad between his panels and the rock.

He brings an sword out of subspace and lays it next to his hip, then reaches across for Winnie. Pulling her unconscious body into his lap, Bumblebee pops the clamp of his breastplate and pulls it off, as well as anything down his midsection.

Bracers coming off his shoulders and upper arms, he holds Winnie against his chest, settling a blanket over her. Taking the other blanket, he throws it over his shoulders, draping across his doorwings.

Checking one last time on Winnie's condition, he allows himself to rest, sleep coming late into the night.


End file.
